'No calls, no messages': Ex MNC employee reflects on workplace friendships after quitting

An ex MNC employee's reflection on colleagues who stopped keeping in touch after he quit has resonated with social media users.

An ex MNC employee's post about losing touch with colleagues after leaving his job has resonated with many on social media. Reflecting on the six years he spent at a multinational company, he said the friendships he had built over coffee breaks, office lunches and personal milestones disappeared almost overnight after he quit.

An employee reflects on workplace friendships after leaving his job. (Representative Image)

Ex employee reflects on life after leaving the company

The post was shared on X by Prashant Pansare, who urged people not to become too emotionally attached to their jobs or colleagues.

"Don't get too attached to your job or your colleagues. I spent over 6 years at a major MNC corporate. Friendships were built through coffee meets, lunches, sports, walks, helping their families and kids, becoming close enough to attend weddings and seeing families grow over the years. All this disappeared the moment I left. No calls, no contacts, no messages, no emails. All vanished," he wrote.

He went on to recall the lengths he had gone to for people he considered close friends.

"Imagine running to donate blood late at night, caring for their old parents by rushing on an overnight train journey because they were abroad. Helping with their sister's wedding by taking days off. No one turned up when I needed help once I left," he added.

Ending the post with a lesson, he wrote, "Friends that I thought would be lifelong were just colleagues with career aspirations, competitors eyeing promotions and bonuses. Lesson: Colleagues are not necessarily friends. Build your circle of friends outside the office as well."

Take a look:

Internet shares its take

"True! Not everyone cares like you do. Check them early. But we don't have the mentality of checking whether others care for us or not," wrote one user.

Another shared a different experience, saying, "So true, but there are a few who continue to be there even if they are far apart. I have spent 22 years at an MNC, and some of them are so close that whenever we talk, we pick up from where we left off, even if it's only once in a while. Those are truly happy moments."

"That's why I don't really get attached to people, you know. I only help people if they are my family. Even in college, I had friends, but I prefer to stay alone most of the time. I love being alone!" another commented.

"I would have to agree with this. Most often, those relationships end when you leave for another company. Your value is attached to the role you play within that company for the duration that you are there. That's just the way it is," read another comment.

Echoing a similar sentiment, one user wrote, "This is so true. Stay in touch with friends from school, college or your neighbourhood. Office friendships are just colleagues. Once you leave, you are out of their radar."

Another simply said, "Agreed... that's why 'college friends' are different from 'work friends'."